Spent Grain Brewpub

10/06/2026

https://www.suburbtalk.com/2026/10/05/excitement-building-for-spent-grain-brewpub/

Excitement Building for Spent Grain Brewpub by Eileen Daday | Oct 5, 2026 After more than three years in the making, it looks like Spent Grain Brewpub is getting closer. Owner and brewmaster Eric Lamkins hopes to be tapping b**rs in early 2027. The unique concept takes its name from the remaining gr...

09/30/2026

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY and ENTIRELY

The past two weeks have been a roller coaster for Heather and me. Last week, while we were out of town attending a Kilwins conference, the village approved our liquor license. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone at the village who helped make this possible, including the mayor, the board of trustees, the staff members who spent countless hours on the phone with me, and the building and health departments. We are deeply grateful for the very supportive and helpful people in Village Hall. Even public works has been so great and made getting things done at the brewery easier. THANK YOU ALL!

Moving to this week, it was our hope to be at Harmony Fest this weekend, one clarification, we would not have had our b**r, we cannot brew yet, but in applying for the Illinois state liquor license for the event our state brewer’s license for Spent Grain Brewpub has complicated the process. Because of that, we will not be able to get a Special Event license. This was devastating to say the least. It does get worse… Unbeknownst to anyone involved at up to this point, the state’s timing for a liquor license vs a brewer’s liquor license has a significantly longer period. What we thought would take 1-3 business days, will in fact take 3 to 8 business weeks. Nothing we have done or could have done would have changed any of this.

What does this mean? We cannot start brewing prior to receiving the state liquor license, something we also didn’t know. We are taking this as best as we can. We are hoping for the quickest turnaround. But even If that happens, we wouldn’t have b**r to serve until mid-December. During the hectic holiday season is not a great time to open a new restaurant. In the interest of providing the best service and optimal opening experience we will be opening in early 2027. This has not been easy decision for us, we have been working so very hard on getting open, we had thought we’d been open this past April.

Finally, to our families, friends, the Arlington Heights Chamber, the Village of Arlington Heights, and all of you who are excited to see that “open” sign, a huge thank you for your support for Spent Grain Brewpub. We really can’t wait to welcome you in with a cold b**r and warm hug! Until then we will continue to post some pictures, but limiting them these days as we really want to keep the “final” reveal a surprise and I think most of you know where to find us, this weekend we’ll be scooping ice cream! Come say, “Hi” while you’re enjoying Harmony Fest!

Thank you again too all reading this, all involved and all listed in this post,
Cheers,
Heather & Eric

08/24/2026

Well, it's been another couple of weeks and handful of updates. I know a lot of people want to know when we're opening, heck we'd like to know too! The reality is that we don't know. Construction is moving on track, however, the one issue that has dogged our project from almost day one, has been our electrical issues. We have all of the new services installed, meter too, what we don't have, is the final connection to the transformer, which has to be performed by a ComEd Employee. Last week we received a letter from ComEd, that we will not be given an install date until all power has been restored in Indiana.

This is incredibly hard, without this, we cannot brew b**r. I will continue to update you all with posts on construction and although we may not be able to have our b**r or food at Harmony Fest, we are looking at options that would allow us to still participate this year!

Thank you for all of your support!
Eric & Heather

08/12/2026

Another exciting couple of weeks! The bar cop construction is complete, still needs to be finished. While the bar needs finishing, the floor got finished, it is so exciting to be able to save the original wood floor! Between repairs and filling in where to original 2 front doors were, you'd never know, it looks great! Another step closer, I spent all day Saturday with some help from Dave and Heather and got all of the fermenting tanks unboxed and assembled. Next, cleaning and sanitizing.

07/22/2026

Things are really moving along. I know so many of you (me included) would love a concrete opening date. Currently we have goals. We'll need time to brew and ferment b**r before we can open. We're hoping by the good graces of the city that we'll be able to start brewing before we actually have occupancy. But we still need power, the electrical work is done, but ComEd has yet to deliver a Meter, without it, we're literality dead in the brewery... At this time, it's our goal to be a participant in Harmony fest on the first weekend of October. Quite possibly opening before or right after. Please be patient, those of you who know us (Heather and I) know we'd have loved to have been open over a year ago. This road has been long, and we can't wait to see all of you soon when we open. The good news, most of you know where to find us in the meanwhile.

I look forward to the next post as things are really moving. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you and your support! Cheers!

Heather & Eric

06/07/2026

Another great week that ended with all of our fermenting equipment being delivered and our new electric being ran! Other things taking place this week, tile starting, the wood floor got patch throughout the space and additional electrical getting done.

05/15/2026

So finally, some pictures to share! The team at CK Construction is working hard to get us open and they're moving fast. The number one question we get, when are you going to open? Great question, as the guy that writes the rent check each month, I'd say 2 years later than we hoped.

And to make no mistake about it, the Village of Arlington Heights has been great and extremely supportive and helpful to our process. The explanation to all the delays is simple, it's an old building and well our space in particular is lacking power. Working with engineers and ComEd has been the biggest delay on this project. I just received new that we will not have our new power supply until June now.

**** SIGH ****

With that said we are hoping to open mid to late July now. I can't express how much Heather and I appreciate all of the support from our family, friends, neighbors and future customers. Additionally, all of your patience with just how long this is taking. We are so very excited to open and look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Thank you everyone, We will continue to share information as We get it. We will also start sharing updates and photos as it makes sense!

- Heather & Eric

05/15/2026

It's hard to believe that this project as taken over 2 years, but this is 1 of 2 updates. We wanted to share with you all how it all began. After taking the space, Heather and I did all of the demolition. We filled one dumpster with that project and a second with everything that was left in the basement. I wish I had pictures of the basement before we emptied it. The best way to describe how much was down there? We found a second staircase that we didn't know existed.